Bloomberg News

Warsaw Hosting UN Climate Talks Raises Greenpeace Concern

By Alex Morales
November 28, 2012

Poland agreed to host the next round of United Nations-sponsored climate talks in 2013, prompting criticism from groups including Greenpeace that the government in Warsaw isn’t pro-environmentalist enough.

Greenpeace said it was concerned about the choice of Warsaw because Poland’s government has blocked efforts within the European Union to boost its target for paring greenhouse-gas emissions.

Special Report: 2012 Doha Climate Change Conference

“At a time when action is desperately needed, a host country should be firmly committed to climate protection and be able to negotiate compromises and seal deals but Poland has a bad track record on both counts,” Jiri Jerabek, an Eastern Europe specialist at Greenpeace, said in a statement released in Doha, where the UN talks began this week.

Poland hosted the UN climate summit in 2008 at Poznan.

“We all look forward to going to Warsaw,” Abdullah bin Hamad Al-Attiyah, the former Qatari deputy prime minister who is president of the current round of talks, said today in Doha. “Congratulations.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Morales in London at amorales2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reed Landberg at landberg@bloomberg.net